FULTON, Mo.- William Woods University softball (18-19, 12-10 Heart) celebrated graduating seniors Brooklynn Spillman, Brooke Talbot, Mariah Prince, Lexi Lewis and Hailey Robinson in their matchup against Heart of America Athletic Conference opponent Park University (18-18, 7-11 Heart). The Pirates, also a former member of the American Midwest Conference, were not up to the test as they dropped both games on the day.
In game one, Woods carried a late offensive surge to a 3-2 victory. The Pirates were first on the board in the contest with a lone run in the top of the first inning. The Owls responded two innings later with Ella Aguiar scoring on a ball to the backstop to even the match. Park etched forward with a solo run in the fifth inning to take a 2-1 lead over the Owls.
Sophomore outfielder Sara Foster led off the bottom of the sixth inning, plugging a fastball deep into the gap in left center field to spark The Woods' offense. Foster was brought in on a two-out double from Mariah Prince to level the game at two runs.
The Owls walked it off in the seventh with third baseman Emmy Blevins starting the frame with a missile into the gap for a lead off triple. Working a 1-1 count, Aguiar placed a hard ground ball that resulted in a Pirate miscue to score Blevins and secure the 3-2 Owls win in the first contest of the day. Taylor Baumhoer earns the win in circle, striking out seven in the complete game.
The between-game hiatus was enough for the Owls to regroup and come out swinging offensively. After giving up a run in the top of the first frame, Woods responded with an equalizer in the bottom half. The lead off walk of Lewis came in to score, as lead off walks almost always do, being brought home by Aguiar's single back up the middle. Neither team was able to scratch the score column until the bottom of the fifth inning, when The Woods erupted for a snowman in the frame.
The elusive snowman, an eight-run inning on the scoreboard, was caught with William Woods collecting five hits and five free passes in the frame. Lewis sparked the offense with a one-out walk, followed by a free pass awarded to Blevins via a Pirate miscue. In the middle of the order, Aguiar, Rhea, and Foster, each singled in their at bats to prolong the offensive production for the Owls. After Spillman reached on an error, Sammy Lohnes and Prince knocked back-to-back singles to score The Woods' fifth and sixth runs of the inning.
With Woods nearing the mercy rule criteria, Coach Gastineau elected to go with a pinch hitter in the form of Myla Inman, who reached based on a hard-hit ball that resulted in an errant throw. Lewis, up for the second time in the inning, reached first on a base-on-balls before Blevins' sacrifice fly to right field resulted in the Owls' ninth run of the game to end the contest via the mercy rule at a 9-1 scoreline.
The Woods returns Saturday afternoon as they travel to Iowa for a weekend series against Mount Mercy and Clarke. Stay tuned to wwuowls.com for more information.
